The Pennsylvania Railroad station, 1908

The PRR station in 1908, when the Middle Division main line was Mount Union's front door, dozens of trains a day between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The railroad is the reason the brick companies chose this town.

From the record

Passages about this subject, quoted from county histories now in the public domain. Each one names the book and the position in the text so it can be checked. Spelling is as printed.

Captain James Patterson, took up a large tract the next day. Here he built a block-house as a defence against the Indians. The prisoners were taken to the Carhsle jail, and Patterson was made a justice of the peace for making the arrest, the first man to hold that office west of the Tuscarora mountain. Other early settlers were Alexander Dennison, Stacy Hepburn, Thomas Lowery, Charles Hunter, John McDowell, James and William Kenny, John Kepner, Robert Moore, John Anderson, and David Littell. Captain James Patterson also warranted a tract of land where the Tuscarora station on the Pennsylvania railroad is now located. This tract included the "Roaring Spring," a large stream that issued from the crevices in the rock with such force as to cause a loud roaring sound. The spring was destroyed by the building of the railroad. Colonel Thomas Turbett, for whom the township was named, purchased James Kenny's land and in 1775 started the first tannery in what is now Juniata county. Captain William Martin, who served in Armand's First Partisan Legion in the Revolutionary war, was a pioneer in Turbett township, where he died about 1822.John W. Jordan, ed., History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1913) · character 423,940 of the scanned text

It was built on the Little Juniata, nine miles west of Huntingdon, by Edward Bartholomew and Greenberry Dorsey, in 1794, and was called " Barree Forge." This property also embraced extensive tracts of land, through which the Pennsylvania Railroad now passes. A furnace has been built near the forge. In 1795 or '96, George Anshutz and John Gloninger erected Huntingdon Furnace, in Franklin township, three miles from the mouth of Spruce creek. Yielding large profits, the owners invested them in other iron works in adjoining counties and in several forges on Spruce creek. The furnace is now owned by G. & J. H. Shoenberger, but has not been in blast for some years. Notwithstanding the failure to make the Juniata more navigable than it was in its natural condition, its waters were used for the conveyance of the surplus products of the country to market as early as 1796. In that year, the first ark appeared in the Susquehanna. It had been taken there from the Juniata by Cryder, an enterprising German, and was laden with flour manufactured at his mill above Huntingdon. The mouth of the Swatara, at Middletown, was then considered the termination of navigation on the Susquehanna, being believed to be impracticable below that point.Milton Scott Lytle, History of Huntingdon County (Lancaster: William H. Roy, 1876) · character 215,837 of the scanned text

The East Broad Top railroad connects with the Pennsylvania railroad at Mount Union and runs south through Shirleysburg, giving the township and outlying region ample transportation facilities. Smithiield is one of the newer townships of the county, having been organized in March, 1886, from Porter, Walker, and Juniata. It lies directly across the Juniata river from Huntingdon borough, the village of Smithfield forming practically a suburb of the county seat. The Huntingdon & Broad Top railroad runs southwest through the township. Springfield township, located in the southern part of the county, was organized in December, 1790, from the townships of Dublin and Shirley. Its original area has been much reduced by the erection of Cromwell in 1836 and Clay in 1845. It is bounded on the north by Cromwell ; on the east by Dublin ; on the south by Fulton county, and on the west by the township of Clay. John Bailey, a Revolutionary soldier, settled on the banks of the Aughwick creek soon after that war. He was soon joined by William Jones, John Robertson and William Ward. Then came a tide of immigration from Maryland, the Browns, Maddens, Ramseys, Lanes, Cutshalls, Wibles, and several other families locating in what is now Springfield township.John W. Jordan, ed., History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1913) · character 200,907 of the scanned text

Checked 2026-07-05 · Historic Mount Union collection

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